What exactly is the 'church'?

The word church is an incorrect substitute for the Greek word ekklesia, which literally means "the called out ones".

See this link: The Origin Of The Word "CHURCH"

Act 7:37-38 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. (38) This is he, that was in the ekklesia in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

1Cor 1:2 Unto the ekklesia of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

Kuriakon actually means “pertaining to the lord.” It is used twice in scripture: 1 Cor 11:20 The “ Lord’s [ kuriakon]supper;” and Rev 1:10, the “ Lord’s [ kuriakon] day.” In those passages it is the supper belonging to the Lord and the day belonging to the Lord respectively.

Kuriakon, kirche, and church, all meant simply a religious building originally used by pagans and later used by Christians following pagan customs. Christians originally didn’t use buildings, which distinguished them from the pagans whose focus was on building, statues, ritual and physical objects. [Copied from The Origin Of The Word Church at scribd.com]

Throughout the Greek world and right down to NT times (cf. Acts 19:39), ekklesia was the designation of the regular assembly of the whole body of citizens in a free city-state, “called out” (Gr, ek, “out,” and kalein, “to call”) by the herald for the discussion and decision of public business (Lambert 1929, 651).
This is a very narrow way of looking at things. It's like saying heaven isn't a place, its the congregation of God, angels and saints. I assume it is a way of denying the Church its God given authority to teach, govern and sanctify by saying "we're all church."
 
The word church is an incorrect substitute for the Greek word ekklesia, which literally means "the called out ones".


Throughout the Greek world and right down to NT times (cf. Acts 19:39), ekklesia was the designation of the regular assembly of the whole body of citizens in a free city-state, “called out” (Gr, ek, “out,” and kalein, “to call”) by the herald for the discussion and decision of public business (Lambert 1929, 651).
I would like to add
""the called out ones".

Called out by whom?
Called out from ...?
Called out to ....?

In the context of the NT
Called out by God from the world to Christ.
 
I would like to add
""the called out ones".

Called out by whom?
Called out from ...?
Called out to ....?

In the context of the NT
Called out by God from the world to Christ.
And what if "the called out ones" left the original Called out ones?
 
There is only one body of Christ; one's sins must be washed in the blood of the Lamb in order to be a member.
I think RCC confuses or at the least conflates its church with the body of Christ.
Amen Peanut! And after Jesus ascended to heaven, He left the church to be His witness in the world. To ensure that the church in every generation would become mature in the faith, the risen Lord gave evangelists, pastors, and teachers to help build up the body of Christ for the work of service. When these gifted people teach the Scriptures to the people of God, it ensures that the church will be equipped to fulfill its God-ordained role in the world.
 
Your earliest popes were simply bishops of rome and there is no papacy in the n.t. so Peter was never a pope. Your list is incomplete at best and fraudulent at worst.
And where are the names of your church leaders going back through all 2000 years?
 
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